Monday, September 24, 2018

Thoughts on Persona 5: The Animation

Almost exactly a year ago I posted my RPG Talk entry for Persona 5. Though I enjoyed the game, I noted that the pacing was bad and the story was bloated, making my playthrough much longer than it had to be. I wasn't inclined to play the game again anytime soon.

So the best way to relive the highlights is to watch the anime, which is coming up on its final episodes.

Unlike the game, which can bloat without care for the player's time, the anime is restricted in episode count (there won't be more than 26 for a two cour show) so they have to practice some restraint.

I started catching up on it recently, and I'm still behind, but it's a much smoother ride than the game. Though it faithfully follows the same order of events, meaning that we have a regular pattern of getting new party members at the same time we get a new dungeon, it cuts out a lot of bloat by reducing most dungeons to montages of various shots with only key moments actually being animated. The new pattern is roughly three episodes involving the dungeon and the characters around it (most of the scenes being outside the dungeon itself) and then one or two episodes of filler during which the characters get to know each other and the protagonist, Ren, gets to have scenes with other Confidants who are supporting characters in the game.

The Persona 4 anime ended up implying the friendships being made between a bunch of its Social Link characters in a single "catch-up" episode (so it wouldn't have to dedicate an episode to each of them), but Persona 5 seems more intent on showing everyone as a person, so even secondary characters like Tae and Hifumi have multiple appearances in different episodes to establish them as part of the world before Ren goes diving into any personal stories.

Though I didn't think it's necessary, the show also put more focus on Akechi early, and makes it clear early on that he will get directly involved with the Phantom Thieves. I thought he showed up enough in the game that he was already important to me by the time he got heavily involved, but the newer scenes at least make his encounters with Ren in more comfortable settings than say the subway station on the way to school.

One thing I really like in Persona 5: The Animation versus the Persona 4 adaptation is that the characters are depicted using their weapons in combat. I thought it was really strange how Persona 4: The Animation more or less ended up with the characters standing around and yelling while their Personas did all the work. It oddly made it feel like watching Pokemon or Digimon, with its largely passive human trainers.

Persona 5 lets its humans get their hands dirty and actually watching the characters fight is much better than watching their Personas fight, as the Persona budget seems to have been mostly limited to a few very good-looking poses and magic attacks. I can't help feeling like the show doesn't know what to do with Makoto's Persona Johanna, which takes the form of a motorcycle that she rides. The other Personas can be safely animated hovering over someone's head, but Makoto is actually astride Johanna, which means that if she's doing something with her, like an attack, she needs to be in motion. And the result is kinda... meh. It's like the animator was obligated to have her move, but didn't want to put any more effort that they would for any other Persona that wasn't moving nearly as much.

But when it comes to the human characters, the action is good, and I don't mind that they're not constantly using their Personas. They also make a point of showing that the Personas appear from the Phantom Thieves' masks, so their masks disappear when their Personas are being used. It's something we know happens in the game from the cut scenes, but because of the size of the models, we don't really notice.

Also, the anime managed to integrate my least favorite part of the game in a very good way. I disliked Mementos for being a gigantic timesink with no main plot purpose up until the end of the game. It was a huge pain and required multiple trips over to avoid falling behind. Since the anime doesn't need to show every fight, it already had an advantage, but it also takes the trouble of introducing Mementos' mechanics, how it connects to the public consciousness, and how each level gradually unfolds with every increase in notoriety. Though the Phantom Thieves don't go there every episode, the show takes a few minutes here and there to remind the viewer that they are constantly exploring it, and that's a nice way to keep the dungeon in the minds of the viewers when they aren't actively slogging through it themselves.

I'm just over halfway through the series now, so it'll be interesting to see how it all comes together.